


Growing Shadows (Red Dawn Book 1)

by Peridotite



Series: Red Dawn [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cats, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, hi welcome to "aus that only the author is invested in" may i take your order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peridotite/pseuds/Peridotite
Summary: Jonathan has all that a young cat could ask for: bowls constantly full of food and water, plenty of toys, a warm home, and a loving family. However, when his housefolk bring home a stray his age, his world begins to take a turn for the worse.





	1. Prologue

Rain poured down heavily, drops hitting against pavement. It drowned out the pawsteps of a slouching, scraggly longhaired tom as gray as the storm clouds above and a shorthaired golden tabby molly that was far more plump, kempt, and youthful in comparison. Lightning lit up the sky as thunder rumbled in their ears. The tabby winced and looked to the older tom.

"Sh-shouldn't we be seeking shelter?" she asked. Golden eyes with slit pupils glared back at her.

"What, can't even handle a little rain now?" he snarled before turning away. "As if you didn't whine enough before you were pregnant..."

Another burst of lightning lit up the sky, this time bringing a cry from the brambles located at the foot of the small slope on the side of the road. The molly stopped as her ears swiveled towards the source of the noise. Another flash brought with it another cry, confirming that she wasn't just hearing things. She looked to the brambles with wide eyes.

"...Dario, I think there's a kitten down there."

A third cry brought her running down towards the brambles. Dario had come to a stop, though he simply watched his company sniff among the brambles. That's when the scent of blood hit his nose. At the same time, lightning lit up the scene enough for something to catch his eye.

Turning his head, he saw dark marks alongside the road. The image of what had happened at that spot was becoming all too clear in his mind. The molly's gasp drew his gaze back towards her. She pulled a wet fluffy bundle out of the brambles with her jaws.

"We're wasting time," Dario meowed as she placed the kitten down. She seemed to ignore him as she crouched down and began to pull out thorns still stuck to them. Grumbling, he trotted down the slope, stopping short of the brambles. He took a look around as lightning once again flashed across the sky.

Something caught his attention in the fading light. He took a few pawsteps to get a better look at it. Just as he suspected, the body of another cat was lying there. Another flash revealed them to be blue-furred aside from a strange white marking on their left shoulder.

Dario looked back at the molly to see she had quit pulling thorns out of the kitten. Instead, she was gently grooming the tiny thing. The gray tom frowned as he turned fully. Noticing his gaze, the tabby looked up from the kitten to meet it.

"Let's go already. That'll die soon enough, anyways," Dario snarled. The molly's ears drew back as she looked back down at the kitten.

"But, Dario, don't you think that-" she began to ask as her gaze then found its way to the brambles. Once again, lightning struck above them. In the quickly disappearing light, Dario could see her eyes widen. Her mouth hung open slightly as she stared into the thicket.

A few heartbeats passed before she stood up and approached the wall of brambles. She continued gazing into the thicket's depths, annoying Dario. However, before he could do anything, the kitten began mewling once more. This brought her attention back to them, sadness in her eyes.

"...Is..."

A new voice came from up ahead. The two turned around to see the cat that had been passed out moments before breathing slightly.

"...Is... Is that my son? Is... Is he okay?"

The molly picked up the kitten by his scruff and carried him over. She then quickly set him down, pulling back a bit. As she did so, Dario noticed a light patch on the kitten's left shoulder. The tom lying down lifted his head to gaze at the tiny cat, brown eyes filling with warmth.

"...You're alright... Oh, thank you so much..." he meowed quietly, giving the kitten a couple of licks. The molly watched the interaction between the two with a bittersweet look in her eyes before the tom raised his head to look at the two.

"...And what of his mother? Where... where is she?"

The tabby winced as her ears drew back before her expression turned somber. Her head turned towards to the brambles as lightning lit up the sky. Dario could feel the thunder rumbling in his ears.

"She-"

The molly couldn't get any more words out. The tom closed his eyes and gave a solemn nod.

"I... I see..."  
  
He opened his eyes to look down at his son. The kitten began mewling again, so he quickly ran his tongue over the small cat's head a few times. Once the tiny feline quieted down again, the tom looked up at his two acquaintances. His eyes were sad but thankful.

"...May I get your names? I wish to know who I can repay," he meowed. Dario's slit pupils rounded upon hearing the last word. His slouched stance straightened as he stepped forward. With a purr rumbling in his body, he introduced himself.

"Oh, of course, of course! Dario at your service! And this lovely molly over here is Irene."

The blue tom's pupils rounded as his own purr emerged. Before he could respond, however, lightning shot through the sky much closer than before. His son loudly cried out at the sudden chaos. The tom turned his head away from the other two to focus of his son. As he gently groomed the kitten, Dario's gaze shot over towards Irene.

The tabby's eyes were wide and her pupils had grown into slits as she looked back at the older tom. Her mouth also hung slightly open and her ears had been drawn back. Dario's purr had quickly died down upon seeing her like that. Irene started to open her mouth further, but Dario's pupils suddenly becoming slits and his bared teeth made her close it.

The sound of the kitten's cries died down, making Dario turn back towards the father. The old tom placed himself in front of Irene so the other feline would not see her expression. By the time the shorthaired tom had looked back at the duo, any trace of Dario's displeasure had vanished. With another purr, the father continued.

"Thank you... I will be sure not to forget this..."

Before Dario could reply, the sound of something coming down the road behind them caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw two bright lights in the distance. He shared a glance with Irene as lightning lit up his face. His expression and the way he flicked the tip of his tail told her everything she needed to know.

_We need to leave. Now._

"This is quite sudden, but me and my mate must get going," Dario meowed, turning back to face the other tom. "She is quite a ways into her pregnancy, you see, and I would hate for her to get sick by being out in this storm for too long. I hope you understand."

"I do. Thank you again," the blue tom responded, nodding in Dario's direction. With that, the gray tom headed out into the forest. Irene began to follow, but the tom called out her name before she could get too far. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

"I just wanted to wish you luck with your pregnancy," he meowed. "I'm sure they'll be under good care."

"I... Thank you," Irene replied with a nod. She turned back around and quickened her pace to catch up with Dario. The old feline was standing not too far away, pupils slit as he looked over his shoulder. When she caught up with him, she barely had time to stop before he hissed in her ear.

"Quit holding us up, you piece of mouse-dung!"

Dario started walking again without letting her respond. Irene didn't even try to, settling for pulling her ears back and following in silence. As they headed deeper into the forest, the sound of the monster that had been getting closer stopped behind them. Dario only heard something getting out before he took off in a run, Irene only barely keeping up behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god it took me like over a month and a half to write but I'm finally putting this stupid AU out into the world after having it develop in my head for, like, roughly a year! About time!


	2. Chapter 1

The night sky was obscured by dark clouds, only allowing some moonlight to escape from its grip. Still, the darkness did not deter a rather young tom from heading down the alley. The light of the Twoleg den he had just been at was quickly disappearing behind him as he went further into the shadows. Yellow eyes scanned the dim alley as his grip on the piece of chicken in his golden-furred muzzle tightened. The sound of something rummaging around in the silver boulders just up ahead made him slow down to a halt.

"Look who it is. And right on time, too!" a raspy voice meowed as shapes began coming out from behind the silver boulders. The longhaired tom did not move, simply glaring ahead with slit pupils. Soon enough, the shapes revealed 3 full grown cats in various states of dishevelment. A skinny black tom with a ruined collar stepped forward.

"Think you're going somewhere with that food?" he meowed, voice raspy. The smaller tom's tail moved from side to side, which only brought a mrrow of amusement out of the alley cats.

"The widdle kitty's angry!" a calico molly covered in scars purred. The young tom drew his ears back and unsheathed his claws, but this only made the lead tom purr in laughter.

"C'mon, let's not get into a scuffle this time. There's three of us and only one of you," the black tom meowed, flicking his tail back at the other two. "So just drop the chicken and we'll let you live tonight."

The young feline glared harshly at the three, no fear in his eyes. His jaws kept a firm hold on the chicken and he made no move to back down. Instead, he started slowly moving to the left. The third cat, a dark brown tabby tom with torn ears, hissed loudly.

"Where do you think you're going!? You wanna die that badly, you flea!?" the brown tabby spat, jumping in the way. The golden tabby tom stared him down, fur starting to rise. The other two surrounded him with bared teeth and hisses. The young cat didn't make a move to attack and instead waited.

The brown tom leapt first, claws extended. The smaller cat easily jumped out of the way, letting his attacker crash into the ground. The calico went for a blow to his side, but the golden tom quickly ducked and struck her outstretched foreleg with his own claws. With a yowl, she pulled back.

The black tom pounced right onto the young cat, pinning him down. He struggled to free himself, but the other two joined their boss in holding him down. The young tom stopped trying to push them off, though his tail still lashed. The black tom sneered and stepped off of him before lowering his head to meet his defiant gaze.

"Oh, Dio, didn't your mother ever tell you not to pick fights with your betters? Or was that something else she couldn't teach you before she croaked?" the adult tom mocked. Dio's glare grew in intensity, but this just made the older cat mrrow in amusement. He forcibly pried the meal from the young cat's jaws and picked it up with his own. With a tail flick, the black tom instructed the other two to let Dio go and follow him.

Dio made no move to retaliate and simply stayed on the ground as they removed themselves from him. They began to walk off into the darkness when the dark brown tom suddenly felt something yank his tail. Caught off guard, he yowled as he was pulled harshly to the ground. The other two looked back to see what the commotion was.

They saw that Dio was running at them, his eyes seemingly flashing when the moonlight hit just right. Hissing, the calico charged right at him with her claws unsheathed. Mere heartbeats away from meeting her claws, Dio leapt to the right and halted. The molly scrambled to a stop and turned back around.

Dio made no move to face her. Sneering, she pounced at his exposed back. The younger tom looked back, still not moving from his spot. Suddenly, his hind legs came flying up, hitting the calico square in the chest.

She flew back and crashed into the lunging mud-colored tom. Dio proceeded to take off after the black cat, not wanting to waste any more time watching the two behind him fumble. Despite his shorter legs, the gold feline was able to keep the fully grown one in his sight. As they rounded a corner, Dio took the opportunity the slight slowdown gave him and raked his claws across the back of the adult's hind legs.

A shocked and pained yowl burst from the black feline's mouth, making him drop the meal. Dio quickly slipped by him and secured the chicken in his teeth. He continued to run ahead and didn't look back, even as he heard the hissed threats thrown after him. Soon, they faded into nothingness and he reached his destination.

He slowed to a trot as he approached a group of silver boulders. Dropping the chicken behind them, he pulled the corpse of a rat closer to him with a forepaw. It looked like it hadn't been dead for too long. With his other paw, Dio pulled out a few small round objects that shone red in the light of the moon.

He didn't come out from behind the silver boulders until a frail, angry voice called out his name. Dio turned his head back towards to a hole in the wall of the former Twoleg den he was against. Wordlessly, he carefully picked up the dead rat with his teeth and headed into it. As soon as he entered, the voice chided him.

"There you are, you good-for-nothing piece of foxdung! Were you planning on letting me starve!?"

At the other end of the den, a skinny gray tom with terribly unkempt fur was glaring harshly at Dio with cataract-filled eyes. The young tom said nothing and simply padded towards the elder. The older cat's disgusting scent hit him as he got closer, but Dio fought to keep his nose from scrunching up. He set the rat down by the reclining longhaired tom.

"No, father," he finally answered. "Some other cats just tried to pick a fight with me on my way back. That's all."

The elder completely ignored him as he brought his head down to begin eating. However, Dio pulled the fresh-kill back by the tail. The gray tom hissed in Dio's direction. Before he could complain, the young tom meowed.

"You told me that when I got back, you'd share your plan to get us out of this place."

"Why do you even need to know so badly? You planning on going alone and leaving your poor, old, sick father to fend for himself?" the ancient cat sneered.

"Of course not, father. I simply think I deserve to at least know what I'm getting into," Dio stated. His father hissed and started to stand up.

"You don't deserve anything with that attitude, you-" he spat, legs giving out underneath him before he could finish. With another hiss, he snarled, "Fine. I'll tell you, you disobedient piece of crowfood. Tch, knew your useless mother didn't discipline you enough..." Dio's tail tip lashed from side to side, but he kept his tail behind him and out of his father's sight. The gray tom continued with a snarl.

"Tomorrow, we're heading to a large Twoleg den out past the woods. I'm talking a big, fancy place! I've got somebody that owes me a debt up there. We're gonna be living the good life!"

"...I see," Dio meowed, standing up and pushing the rat back to the other feline. "Enjoy your meal, father."

The old tom began devouring the prey as his son padded back towards the entrance. Dio didn't even look back when he heard gagging and then hissed accusations thrown his way. Instead, he headed back over to where the piece of chicken still remained and settled down for his own meal. It wasn't long before the sounds of thrashing and yowling coming from inside the den suddenly died down.

Dio couldn't stop the purr he had been holding back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, Don't know how I wrote this chapter faster than the last one but here it is, I guess. :v
> 
> Anyways, I was not expecting the positive response I got when I first posted this fic so thank y'all for that omg. Hope this chapter lived up to the hype.


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